Googling for the origin of " A penny for your thoughts, " I have only found the origin of a likely-related phrase " my two cents " and simple dictionary entries for " a penny for your thoughts. " What is the exact origin and meaning of this phrase?
What is the origin of the phrase "a penny for your thoughts"?
According to Steven Wright, "If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny."
It's a joke. "Penny for your thoughts" is an old idiom, asking for your opinion. And there hasn't been anything of smaller value than a penny coin for decades, at least in the US.
"A penny for your thoughts" was a substantial bribe, and giving someone two penneth worth would be something the speaker assessed as being of some worth. Two cents doesn't have quite the same ring to it these days.
If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny. What's another word for Thesaurus? I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place. Comedian Henny Youngman was famous for one-liners delivered in a deadpan manner. Much of his humor was both wry ...
This will enable a brainy man to sit at home and, with an electric motor and a perfected phonograph, he can think into a tin dipper or funnel, which will, by the aid of electricity and a new style of foil, record and preserve his ideas on a sheet of soft metal, so that when one says to him, "A penny for your thoughts," he can go to his valise ...